The Three Kingdoms: Zhaolie, the strategist, and the rise of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 102 Jiangdong Jerry, Li Yi plays with him like a baby (Please subscribe!)
Two small boats were approaching each other slowly on the river.

With the help of the firelight, both sides could see each other's faces clearly.

Sun Ce saw Li Yi dressed in a crane-shaped cloak and a silk scarf, and he looked like a god, and he was very surprised.

When Li Yi saw Sun Ce, he found that he was indeed handsome.

Although Sun Ce's stereotypes seem to be that he is frivolous, unprepared, and a rough man.

In fact, Sun Ce is a talkative and humorous person with an open-minded and cheerful personality.

So the soldiers and civilians were happy to do their best for him.

Sun Ce brought his boat closer and stopped when it was only ten steps away from Li Yi's boat.

Next to Li Yi stood another general, who was extremely strong and majestic.

He stood on both sides of Li Yi, glaring at him.

Sun Ce did not dare to move, and only bowed to the opposite side:
"I have long heard of Mr. Li's name, and I am fortunate to meet him today."

"It is a great honor."

Li Yi immediately returned the greeting with a smile:
"General Sun defeated Liu Yangzhou at Qu'a and shocked Jiangdong. Yi in Xuzhou heard of the general's heroic name and was filled with admiration."

Seeing Li Yi's elegant conversation, Sun Ce's favorable impression of him increased suddenly, and he got straight to the point:

"Mr. Li is an important official in Xuzhou. To be honest, I plan to recruit Liu Yao's former soldiers in Qu'a."

“By next year, there will be more than 10,000 more mouths to feed.”

"That's why I want to borrow some food from Guangling. I hope you will agree."

Li Yi asked how much food you wanted.

Sun Ce said without hesitation:
"One hundred thousand hu is enough."

"This is not a small amount. I can only give you half of the food." Li Yi said.

Sun Ce was shocked and thought to himself that Li Yi was actually willing to give him food.

Although it is only half, it is not a small number.

He had originally had no hope of crossing the river this time, but he did not expect Mr. Li to be so unusually straightforward.

"So what does Mr. Li want?"

Sun Ce knew that there was no free lunch in the world, so he immediately asked back.

"...Haha, General Sun is really smart. No wonder you were able to defeat Liu Yangzhou with a smaller force in Qu'a."

Li Yi hesitated for a moment and said:
"General, you should know that my lord is at war with Yuan Shu."

"Yuan Shu appointed Zhang Xun and Qiao Rui as generals, with 20,000 troops, to attack Guangling soon."

"My lord is leading a large army here today to guard against Yuan Shu's attack."

"So the military rations are also in short supply and cannot be easily given to others."

Sun Ce frowned. He was still a general under Yuan Shu in name.

But from what Li Yi said, it seemed as if he was an independent prince.

"Then I wonder what Mr. Li wants Sun to do?"

Sun Ce asked in a deep voice.

"My commander is going to fight Yuan Shu, but our army lacks water warriors."

"If General Sun is willing to hand over his warriors to my lord, I can advise my lord to send the general some food."

What……?
Sun Ce's brows were filled with discontent, even though he guessed that Li Yi's conditions would not be easy.

But I didn't expect it to be so strict.

As soon as he opened his mouth, he asked for his own troops.

I am now gathering my strength in Qu'a in order to capture Wujun next year. Every soldier and every pawn may become the key.

"I wonder how many people you want, sir?"

Sun Ce frowned and asked in a deep voice.

"I only need three thousand steps."

Li Yi raised his hand and made the sign of three, "But these three thousand troops must be the general's own troops."

What did you say!?

Upon hearing this, Sun Ce was so angry that he almost vomited blood.

Three thousand soldiers in exchange for fifty thousand hu of grain?
Do you think that I, Sun Ce, am not good at calculating, or do you think I am a sucker?

What's more, what Li Yi wanted was Sun Ce's main forces.

The main forces of the princes in the late Han Dynasty were usually professional armies that were supported by the emperor.

It's not something that ordinary soldiers can compare to.

Not only can they receive more wine and meat as rewards than other troops, but their salaries are also much higher than those of ordinary officers and soldiers.

Like Sun Ce's original troops, they were passed down from his father's generation.

Because in the south, in addition to wine and meat, people are also rewarded with seafood and river fish.

Therefore, these well-maintained troops are not only loyal, but also have much higher combat effectiveness than other troops.

The cost of food and wages just to train this troop was far more than 50,000 hu of grain.

Not to mention that if Li Yi gave 50,000 hu of grain, even if he really gave 100,000 hu, Sun Ce might not agree.

"I'm sorry, I can't obey your order on this matter."

As expected, Sun Ce rejected Li Yi's conditions.

Li Yi was prepared for this, so he said:
"If the general is unwilling to hand over his troops, it's not impossible."

"My lord is currently at war with Yuan Shu, and General Sun is in Qu'a. If we can raise troops at this time, we can attack Yuan Shu's Liyang."

"Then these 50,000 hu of grain can also be handed over to the general."

"You want me to rebel against the general?"

Sun Ce frowned, although he was indeed unwilling to serve under Yuan Shu.

But he was very clear that he was no match for Yuan Shu at this moment.

With only the two counties of Qu'a and Dantu in hand, it was impossible to stop the army sent by Yuan Shu for revenge.

Lu Fan tugged at Sun Ce's sleeve from behind and whispered:
"The general will be very powerful from now on. We only have Qu'a and Dantu counties, so it will be difficult to stop him."

"Besides, Liu Yao has already forged a grudge against us. If he also sends troops to recapture Qu'a."

"How will our army cope with it then?"

"Don't agree to his request."

Sun Ce nodded and immediately rejected Li Yi's second proposal.

"...Ah, if that's the case, I can't help you."

After saying this, Li Yi ordered the boatman to turn the boat around and leave.

Lu Fan hurriedly offered advice to Sun Ce:
"This man is an important official of Liu Bei. Why not capture him and extort money and food from Liu Bei?"

Sun Ce shook his head, "You have never seen the general holding the silver spear beside this man."

"Although this man has not spoken, I think he is quite brave and will not be an easy opponent."

"The ripples in the upper reaches of the river seem to indicate that there are ambushes. Do not move lightly."

“Besides, Li Yi dared to come to the river to meet me. He is a hero. We should make friends with such people instead of making enemies with them.” Sun Ce was “making trouble” in Jiangdong and did not get the support of local scholars.

He could only win the hearts of the local military and civilians by enforcing strict military discipline and treating soldiers well.

But he knew that this was not enough and he had to seek external help.

Yuan Shu did not provide him with much support. The only help Sun Ce could get from Yuan Shu was that Yuan Shu would not attack him.

He can now focus on dealing with Liu Yao.

Since Li Yi is willing to negotiate with me, it means he definitely wants to cooperate.

However, Sun Ce could not accept either of the two conditions offered.

Sun Ce also began to turn the boat around and prepare to go back.

Lu Fan said again:

"We have come all the way across the river, and we are afraid of being laughed at if we return empty-handed."

Sun Ce smiled and said:

"Guangling City is heavily guarded. We have lost our chance."

"Since Li Ziyu doesn't want to be our enemy, why should we create another enemy at this time?"

"Let's go back now. We'll find another way to deal with the food and fodder."

With one word, he ordered the soldiers to sail back to Qu'a.

Before the boat had turned around and sailed far, Li Yi's words came from the city.

"General Sun, Li's conditions still stand."

"When you have made up your mind, you can come back to see Li."

Upon hearing this, Sun Ce did not answer, but ordered the soldiers to continue sailing.

"Zi Yu, what conditions did you offer Sun Ce just now?" Chen Deng asked.

"Nothing else, just let him start an army from Qu'a and attack Yuan Shu's Liyang."

Li Yi replied calmly.

hiss……

Chen Deng was slightly surprised. "Zi Yu is really bold to bring this up. Liyang is an important town in Jiujiang. Even if Sun Ce has the means, he would never dare to break with Yuan Shu at this time."

Li Yi smiled and said:

"It was because Liyang was an important town in Jiujiang that Sun Ce was sent to lead the troops to attack it."

"If everything goes well, perhaps this advance will not only repel Yuan Shu's invading troops."

"There is a better chance to advance into Huainan."

Chen Deng now understood Li Yi's intention. Sun Ce was now leading his troops around Yuan Shu's back. If he wanted to rebel at this time.

This would put Yuan Shu in a situation where he could not take care of both ends.

By then, we will not only be able to repel Yuan Shu's invading troops, but we may even be able to push them back.

"But with Sun Ce's current strength, even if he is brave and resourceful, he would never dare to rebel against Yuan Shu at this time."

"That's right." Li Yi nodded, "So we should work harder to improve ourselves in Guangling."

Chen Deng understood the hidden meaning of Li Yi's words.

As long as they can deal a heavy blow to Yuan Shu in Guangling.

By then, there would be no need for them to persuade him, as Sun Ce would himself find an opportunity to rebel against Yuan Shu.

After all, this guy is a ruthless person who dares to abandon his backup, bypass Moling and run to Qu'a to fight Liu Yao for a decisive battle.

Life is a gamble.

Now that Old Liu has chosen to trust Li Yi and go into all-out war with Yuan Shu, it can naturally be considered a gamble.

If Sun Ce could seize the opportunity to plunder Yuan Shu's territory to the west, it would be a gamble.

It depends on which side is more courageous.

……

At this time, Yuan Shu, who was still in Shouchun, still had full confidence in defeating Liu Bei.

The chief clerk Yan Xiang brought back the military report that Guan Yu was leading his troops to march towards Zhongli.

Many ministers advised that Zhongli was the northern gateway to Jiujiang.

Once it falls, the army from Xuzhou will be able to pass through Zhongli and attack Shouchun directly.

"General, Liu Bei ordered Guan Yu to march to Zhongli in order to invade Huainan."

"We must deploy heavy troops to guard Zhongli!"

Do not!
Yuan Shu shook his finger unexpectedly, stroking his goatee, as if thinking about something.

"Ah this..."

All the civil and military officials looked at each other in bewilderment, and no one understood Yuan Shu's intention.

"My army has entered Guangling. If Liu Bei does not want Guangling to fall, he must send a large army to help."

"So I guess the troops led by Guan Yu in Zhongli are definitely not Liu Bei's main force, but are only there to threaten my Jiujiang flank."

"So that I can divide my troops to guard Zhongli, and then strike hard at Zhang Xun and Qiao Rui's troops in Guangling."

Yuan Shu was very proud of himself and admired himself for seeing through Liu Bei's intentions.

Upon hearing these words, all the civil and military officials seemed to have been enlightened.

Yes, it is impossible for Liu Bei to send a large army to attack Zhongli unless he doesn’t want Guangling anymore.

Once Guangling was lost, Yuan Shu could directly threaten Xia Pi, the capital of Xuzhou.

It would be like switching sides, and Yuan Shu didn't believe Liu Bei would do that.

"The rear general is wise, the rear general is wise!"

All the officials started to flatter Yuan Shu.

Yuan Shu continued to trigger his passive "clever plan" and said slowly:
"I will send another general with 3,000 troops to reinforce Zhongli."

"Then, east of Zhongli, on both sides of the Huai River, build high beacon towers."

"If Liu Bei secretly sends reinforcements to Zhongli, then the beacon tower in Zhongli will be able to send out an alert immediately."

"Close the city gates promptly and report to Shouchun."

"When the time comes, I will transfer troops from the western front to provide reinforcements."

"With the help of both inside and outside forces, attacking from both inside and outside, how can Liu Bei defeat me?"

Hahahaha!
Yuan Shu threw his head back and laughed, a laugh that sounded like a donkey's.

He was even more impressed by his own "clever idea".

How can this boy who weaves mats and sells shoes be my opponent?
Then, he turned his gaze to the civil and military officials and asked:
"Who is willing to lead the troops to Zhongli to defend Guan Yu?"

Ji Ling was about to step out of the line when he was overtaken by another person.

"I am willing to lead 3,000 elite soldiers to defend Zhongli!"

When everyone looked at him, they found that it was Yuan Yao, the son of Yuan Shu.

……

(End of this chapter)